Appearing at first sight as an unassuming cylinder, Michael Jantzen’s Web-Shaped Pavilion is in fact a dynamic, solar powered, interactive, public gathering place that can be controlled by the internet! The 130-foot tall pavilion is clad with 208 hinged

Appearing at first sight as an unassuming cylinder, Michael Jantzen’s Web-Shaped Pavilion is in fact a dynamic, solar powered, interactive, public gathering place that can be controlled by the internet! The 130-foot tall pavilion is clad with 208 hinged panels that can be automatically pulled up or down along tracks with small electric motors set at the outer surface of the structure, transforming the building's 360 degree facade. The hinged panels can be opened in hundreds of different variations to improve not only ventilation, but the quality of light on the inside of the pavilion, as well as the views to the surrounding landscape.

The building has been design to be controlled via the internet, where people from all over the world can have a hand in altering the shape of the structure through their computers, iPods, iPads, or smart phones. The final form will however, be dictated by the majority. The Web-Shaped Pavilion simply retrieves internet votes from around the world, converts these votes into electrical signals, and then activates its small electric motors to follow suit.

The pavilion can be enclosed behind the hinged panels with glass, or left open with just a wire mesh. Visitors to the pavilion can climb up through the seven levels on a spiral staircase or use an elevator. The design implements stairs that generate electricity through kinetic energy as the visitors climb from one level to the next, and if an elevator is used, it will generate additional electrical energy through gravity each time it moves in the down position.

All of this electrical energy will be stored for nighttime use in the form of hydrogen gas, which will be made on site and stored underground near the pavilion. The building will also host a large array of solar cells at its roof. When the structure does not need all of the power generated by the solar cells, it will be sent into the local grid.